Elemental

Chapter 6

“I can’t believe you didn’t get supplies,” Matthew complained for the 50th time.

“Just eat the bird!” Ysac retorted.

Matthew was silent then said, “Kitty was pretty hot. Are you two…?”

“What?!? No!” He replied mortified.  

“Good,” Matthew said, satisfied, and took a bite of the bird.

“She doesn’t feel like that about you, you know.”

“How do you know?” he demanded. Ysac remained silent.

“I am going north, to the Earth kingdom,” He said finally. “Are you going to come, or go back to Kitty, with your tail wagging?”

Matthew knew he was right, but he didn’t have to be so damn rude. He figured that Kitty was like a daughter to Ysac, even though they didn’t act like it, and he was offended by the question.

“Look,” he began. Ysac raised his head from stoking the fire. “I’m sorry about the Kitty thing.”

“She is rather pretty isn’t she, from your view?” he asked. “One of the problems if we dated would be the age difference of course.”

Matthew nodded. “Yes. I’ve been meaning to ask; how old are you?”

The answer shocked him. He thought it was impossible to live over a hundred. But to as agile, as strong and as fast as Ysac...

He’d never seen a 312 year-old man before.

Safia didn’t sleep much that night. Matthew’s question had shocked her. Kitty and her? Impossible. She had told him that it was the age difference. He’d believed her. She was lucky he hadn’t pressed her further. Though she technically hadn’t lied, she implied that the age difference was the main problem, though truly that was a minor problem. Gender preference, for one thing, would be a major. If she did care about the age difference, one hundred years wouldn’t really be a problem. Because, really, Kitty was 418yrs old. 

Matthew woke up. Again the camp was already packed up, with only a fire going. Ysac passed him the leg of a deer. He ate eagerly.

“So,” he said. “EarthKingdom.”

“Mmm.”

“Anything I should know?” he probed.

“Four to Five Week Journey. I know the King.” He said sharply and shortly.

“Jeez, grumpy much?” he said under his breath, so that he himself could barely hear it.

“Very funny,” Ysac replied.

Safia was grumpy though. She had to explain to Matthew who she was, before she reached her foster fathers’ castle. He would find it easier to be told by me, she told herself, rather than a maid, or a cook. But how could she explain? Could she explain?

They travelled for four weeks together. It took longer for them to get there because they kept detouring to save one village or another.

Once they came across a village being plagued by a band of rouges- called the Nightmare League. They stayed until night, when the bandits came out and ambushed them. Matthew heard them call Ysac Safia, but let it pass. It must be another name for Ysac or something. He didn’t know how wrong he was.

They managed to round up all the bandits, and turn them over to the villagers, who promised to send them to the proper authorities. Ysac agreed absentmindedly, but Matthew knew Ysac well enough to realise something was bugging him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Ysac splayed his arms. “I’ve never heard of the Nightmare League people before.”

“Maybe it’s someone new. I mean, surely things have changed an awful lot. On my planet, new loyalties are formed every day.”

Ysac glanced away; at least Matthew assumed he did. They had been travelling together for weeks, but Matthew had seen no more of Ysac’s face than that fateful night so long ago.  

“You’re probably right,” Ysac said.

But Matthew wasn’t fooled. The Nightmare League worried Ysac, and that worried Matthew.

Ysac decided they should take a detour. Matthew assumed it had something to do with the League, but didn’t dare voice his concerns.

They had just reached the outskirts of a forest that Ysac told him was a shortcut. Ysac was getting increasingly moody.  Maybe he was just impatient to see his friend, and wanted to get this detour out of the way. He had told him the king had no male heirs and that his wife was years dead. He mulled over this as they reached the gate. The gates towered over his head, and were made of gold. Suddenly they were surrounded by members of the Nightmare League. There were about 10 of them.

“Damn,” Ysac muttered.

“How come you didn’t notice them?” Ysac had a profound nose for traps.

“Notice their boots?” Ysac asked. They were faintly glowing pink. “Charmed to be absolutely silent, and is worth absolutely a fortune.”

“Why didn’t they use them before?”

“They probably didn’t have them before. They’ve either robbed an excellent mage or witch, or at least a rich one, or got a new sponsor. Could be either, but right now I couldn’t care less.” And with that he struck. Seven of the men went after him while three went after Matthew.

“Now that’s just rude” he said as he grabbed his daggers. The three men crowded him. He kicked one and he went flying. He broke another ones nose, and he fell unconscious. The last one he stabbed on his waist, though on the very edge. He turned to help Ysac, and found all his enemies dead, unconscious or fled. Then he looked in surprise as a man grabbed a magic-ed club. Ysac turned quickly, his hood falling off revealing a head of long shiny black hair. But it was too late. The bandit whacked Ysac over the stomach with the metal weapon. Matthew grabbed a spare sword and fended him off, away from the body. Then he ran back to the body. And stared. In the confusion Ysac’s cape had fallen away. It revealed a beautiful young girl, about his age; sixteen. Her hair was long and black. Her skin was a pale white and her lips were a deep red. At first he was confused; where was Ysac? Had someone taken him while he wasn’t looking and replaced him with this fair beauty? Then realisation kicked in.

“My God,” he said, backing away from her. “No!”